The Sky Blues' debts are at least #38million and rising every month with players' wages outstripping ticket sales by alarming amounts.

And with barely any assets except those players - the club doesn't own its ground - it desperately needs a lifeline.

Otherwise, it could face going into administration.

And that would be very bad news indeed - not least for Coventry MP and multi-millionaire Geoffrey Robinson, who has invested at least #10million in the club.

Today, prospects of a rescue by Sky Blues fan and former Coventry schoolboy Gary Hopkins seem to be dead in the water.

He was fronting an approach by American firm Manhattan Sports Capital Partners to buy both the struggling Championship club and the Ricoh Arena.

The man putting up the money, Sheldon Yellen, owner and chairman of a company called Belfor, flew over from the States on Monday.

He and his team had two days of talks.

They met Mr Robinson, officials from the Sky Blues' bank, the Co-operative Bank, from the football club, and from Coventry City Council and the Alan Edward Higgs charity which jointly own the Ricoh Arena, at Rowleys Green.

"In all of this it was difficult to gauge the situation because Manhattan and other bodies are fully aware of the scale of the financial problems of the football club now, when perhaps they weren't aware some time ago.

"Everybody has to take stock about whether they are in a position to move forward.

"The real onus is with the Co-operative Bank.

"Effectively, the Co-op has fixed and floating charges in the club.

"They're the people who need to decide what, if anything, is going to happen in the future."

City council leader Ken Taylor revealed that two other "derisory" bids had been received from two other firms.

One, called Sisu, had offered #15million.

The other was from a firm called Shapiro, which offered #26million but wanted the club to pay off its debts and the city council to give it a longer lease on the Ricoh Arena and some spare land to the north of the site.

Mr McGuigan said that deal would have cost the council #4million of taxpayers' money and left the Alan Edward Higgs charity #2.5million out of pocket.

He added: "Even if the bank and Geoffrey [Robinson] accepted they were not going to get a penny back of all the debt [owed to them], and someone bought the club for #1, they'd still have to have lots of money to be able to turn the club around over the next two years."